Directed by renowned director Jonathan Miller, the production also features a specially commissioned new orchestration by composer Stephen McNeff.

Speaking before Wednesday night’s opening performance at Newtown’s Theatr Hafren, Bremner said: “It’s fun to lock yourself away with a musical score, a dictionary and thesaurus and get cracking.

“It’s like doing crosswords or sodoku for me, and you’ve got to solve it in three directions.

“You have to get the words right, you have to make them fit and hopefully you can make them come alive and be funny.”

Praising the company, he told Radio Wales: “Mid Wales Opera is a fabulous company and Jonathan Miller is a fantastic director, I’ve seen some of the rehearsals and it is a cracking show, really good.”

Mid Wales Opera artistic director Nicholas Cleobury said: “It’s a great accolade to be working with such a great director.

”He’s bringing real kudos to what we’re doing at Mid Wales Opera.”

The company was founded in 1988 after Keith Darlington, who was Head of the Birmingham Conservatoire Vocal and Operatic School, and Barbara McGuire met at a concert and discussed ways of developing local singing talent.

Later that year, the pair set up a Summer Opera School in Meifod, Powys and a year later the group moved to the Theatre Hafren.

Since then the company has established itself as one of the foremost British touring opera companies, specialising in performing at smaller venues across Wales and England which rarely host live opera.

Mr Cleobury said: “We’re doing very well artistically but we need to be ever vigilant on funding. Our remit is to take opera to smaller places far from metropolitan centres that would not otherwise see it.

“We have a big young artists programme which is looking to the future of opera in Wales and beyond, complementing what Welsh National Opera is doing.”

Further performances of Carmen will take place at Theatr Hafren on September 5 and 6 before the production goes on tour for a further 23 performances in Wales and England.